Hello! It has been awhile since I have last written. I have been very busy. How are you? I hope you’re fine, and things are going well.

Last year, in June, I went to the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania with the people in the REACH program. At Scranton, I went to class and I learned a lot. They were teaching us math and literature. During the weekends we had field trips. One of the trips was to a water park. I had a lot of fun on the field trips. I stayed at Scranton for three weeks. I slept in a room and had a roommate. The food was good. It was my first time being away from my family and home. I didn’t feel homesick at all.

During that time my Mom and my brother went to California. They spent time with relatives there. Mom made a scrapbook of pictures and put it up in the internet: http://www.oocities.org/raxxenjil/Dare/scrapbook/joshcalif.html. My mom made a scrapbook of fifth grade pictures for me, too. She’ll scan and put it up next month.

After the three weeks at Scranton, all of us went back home. The week after, we went to Regis High School in Manhattan to learn more math and literature. It was another three weeks, but this time we went home everyday and the weekends. The program runs during Saturdays now during the school year.

After the summer program ended, I went camping with my friends from Yonkers, King and Zeus and their family. We went to same camp site, Beaver Pond Camping Grounds at Bear Mountain. We cooked a lot of food and canned goods. We swam most of the time, and when it was cold or rainy we would go to the recreation center. I went to a concert at a convention with King and Zeus in New Jersey. Nora Aunor was there with other Filipino celebrities.

School started in September. I’m in sixth grade now. Our school was only going to go up to grade five, now they’ve changed to Pre-K to grade eight. So, I’m staying in PEARLS until grade eight. My grade six teacher, Mrs. Fierson, became the vice principal, so our class had a lot of substitute teachers. We had seven substitute teachers before they hired a permanent teacher Ms. Nagi. She’s okay.

My brother Joshua now goes to high school. He goes to Irvington High School. In St. Denis School he’s in the fourth grade in CCD, and I’m in the sixth grade. Also my mother is teaching third and fourth grades together.

I celebrated my birthday with a party at Sportime USA. I played laser tag with my friends. I tried to be stealthy, but I got shot a lot. I saw my friend up in a higher place, so I climbed up too, and shot the other people. Afterwards, they served pizza and then an ice cream cake.

In the months after, I accomplished many achievements. First, I earned a Red Cross certificate for babysitting. I went to two classes at the Westchester Community College to learn about taking care of kids. Next, when I received my report card in school, I made it to the honor roll. I also finished swimming classes in Mark Twain Middle School for Level four. I passed the level, and now I’m in Level five. Next year, when I’m 12 years old I might be taking scuba diving lessons at the Westchester Community College.

I started to walk to and from school this year. It’s not that bad, and it’s not that far. I meet Joshua at the front of the building where his bus drops him off from his school. We always visit Lolo. Usually in the morning, though, Dad drives Mom to school then drops me off. Sometimes, I get a ride home with a neighbor from across the street, or Dad picks me up.

In class, we had a Christmas party before we went on vacation last December. Mom was able to attend because her school had an extra day for their vacation. We had exchange gifts; I gave my classmate Bayan an Avon gift set. I got ten dollars from my classmate and friend Marco. At home, we celebrated Christmas Eve at Tita Lela’s place. Mom and Dad gave me a game called Time Crisis, and Joshua got an Eye toy. We can use both on the Playstation 2. A few days later we went to New Jersey for Uncle John’s first death anniversary. There was a meal and then a mass for him.

Last January, I took the PLUS exam. I think I did well on the test. I was able to answer all the questions. The PLUS exam is for the Johns Hopkins University summer programs. I take the exam for practice, even if I am not going to their summer program.

Lolo had his birthday at Buffet 2000 again. He’s 88 years old now! Lots of people came to his party. Joshua and I brought his birthday cake. It was a half and half cake, vanilla and chocolate. Dad had his birthday last Wednesday, but we celebrated it at China town on Tuesday. We got a chocolate cake for him.

Yesterday I just received my glasses. I couldn’t see the blackboard in school. I can see better now. My mom says I look good with my glasses.

I hope when I write my next letter, it doesn’t take as long to send. I will write soon!

by Darell